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by Jennifer Macnair,Sam Kashner

Jennifer_Macnair Sam_Kashner Americas English

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Americas

Author:

Jennifer Macnair,Sam Kashner
ISBN:

0393324362
ISBN13:

978-0393324365
Genre:

History
Publisher:

W. W. Norton & Company (May 17, 2003)
Pages:

384 pages
Subcategory:

Americas
Language:

English
FB2 format

1737 kb
ePUB format

1698 kb
DJVU format

1135 kb
Rating:

4.1
Votes:

111
Formats:

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Not so, according to journalists Kashner and MacNair, who offer a juicy, gossip-gorged expos of '50s Hollywood.

Not so, according to journalists Kashner and MacNair, who offer a juicy, gossip-gorged expos of '50s Hollywood. They begin, appropriately, with the story of Confidential magazine, a publication that outed gays and revealed interracial romances, prison records and extramarital affairs. This terrifically readable cultural history of Hollywood in the Fifties was inspired by James Ellroy's wish to the authors that there were a book about the era as fine as Otto Friedrich's CITY OF NETS; the authors admit they could not quite match the comprehensiveness of Friedrich's achievement, nor are they quite as erudite or analytically sophisticated.

I absolutely adored Sam Kashner’s most recently published book, Furious Love . Kashner and MacNair contend that Novak was the love of Davis’ life, but warnings of career ruination from studio directors forced.

I absolutely adored Sam Kashner’s most recently published book, Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century (co-written with Nancy Schoenberger), which ignited in me a new interest in the movies of Taylor and Burton, as well as the pre-1980s era of a Hollywood. And while at times the The Bad and the Beautiful overreaches in an attempt to cover ten years of eventful movie-making, it proved overall to be an entertaining, if overly ambitious, read. Kashner and MacNair contend that Novak was the love of Davis’ life, but warnings of career ruination from studio directors forced the two to end their not-so-secret relationship.

The period is reconsidered in The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties (W. W. Norton) by. .Kashner and MacNair love their theme, have picked their subjects well, and have juicy bits to reveal to anyone interested in the movies. Norton) by Sam Kashner and Jennifer MacNair. The authors admit that this is not a comprehensive history of that period in Hollywood; indeed, it is surprising that they have no chapters devoted to westerns or to science fiction.

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Bad and the Beautiful . Author: Sam Kashner, Jennifer MacNair ISBN 10: 0751530840.

Author: Sam Kashner, Jennifer MacNair ISBN 10: 0751530840. Title: The Bad And The Beautiful: Portraits of Hollywood in the Fifties Item Condition: used item in a good condition. Books will be free of page markings. Read full description. See details and exclusions.

Save an average of 50% on the marketplace. Like Billy Wilder's celebrated film, The Bad and the Beautiful offers a fascinating vision of the city struggling with tremendous change while producing epic films like A Place in the Sun, Night of the Hunter, and The Ten Commandments. The authors brilliantly document the decline of the studio system, the rise of television, and the emergence of tabloid culture, which changed the industry forever, re-creating the era through colorful anecdotes and biographical sketches.

Hollywood in the Fifties. by Sam Kashner & Jennifer MacNair. Journalists Kashner and MacNair depict a Hollywood struggling against the audience-draining impact of TV while balancing the demand for wholesome films with the postwar drift toward realism and sexual candor.

Kashner, Sam; MacNair, Jennifer. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Uploaded by Tracey Gutierres on August 20, 2015. SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata).

Sam Kashner; Jennifer Macnair. Kashner and MacNair present "a revealing. glimpse into the shadowy reality and hidden mores of Hollywood in what was popularly considered a decade of innocence (the 1950s)" (Suzanne Finstad). This button opens a dialog that displays additional images for this product with the option to zoom in or out. Tell us if something is incorrect. The Bad and the Beautiful : Hollywood in the Fifties. Sam Kashner; Jennifer Macnair. by Sam Kashner, Jennifer Macnair. Published May 2003 by W. Norton & Company. IN BOLD, brash typefaces, Confidential magazine sang out its top stories: "The Truth About Tab Hunter's Pajama Party," "Sinatra and DiMaggio's Wrong Door Raid," "Nude Body Found in the Apartment of Will Rogers' Daughter!," and "Picasso Is an Opium Addict!"

He just sat there tearing up an envelope into little pieces,’ Orr remembered. So I figured he must be a genius and signed hi. - The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties by Sam Kashner & Jennifer Macnair.

He just sat there tearing up an envelope into little pieces,’ Orr remembered. Marlon Brando The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties Sam Kashner Jennifer Macnair William Orr Rebel Without A Cause.

A vivid portrait of power, fame, and sex in 1950s Hollywood, from the rise of tabloid journalism to the making of legendary film icons.

With "fresh emphasis on little-known stories [and] an impressive number of eyewitnesses" (Chicago Tribune), Sam Kashner and Jennifer MacNair present "a revealing,...ever fascinating glimpse into the shadowy reality and hidden mores of Hollywood in what was popularly considered a decade of innocence" (Suzanne Finstad). "[S]urprisingly vivid accounts" (People) of such public icons as Lana Turner, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Mae West explore the private scandals exploited by tabloids such as Confidential. Highlighting Hollywood's curious religious revival with The Robe, the film industry's exploitation of the potboiler Peyton Place, and the life of anarchic director Nick Ray of the enduring classic Rebel without a Cause, the authors "[give] a compelling sense" (Kirkus Reviews) of the unique obsessions of the era and the city's attempts to reinvent the magic and mystery of its past glories. Guided by the authors' historical savvy and intimate storytelling, we discover a city at a crossroads, attempting to reinvent the magic and mystery of its past glories. Tragic, irreverent, and always entertaining, The Bad and the Beautiful reveals the underground history of this turbulent decade in American film. 35 b/w photographs.

DEAD-SHOT

This terrifically readable cultural history of Hollywood in the Fifties was inspired by James Ellroy's wish to the authors that there were a book about the era as fine as Otto Friedrich's CITY OF NETS; the authors admit they could not quite match the comprehensiveness of Friedrich's achievement, nor are they quite as erudite or analytically sophisticated. But, in their best chapters (on the culture of Hollywood expatriates, and in fine narratives of the making of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER), they come close to matching the engaging tone of and gossipy frisson engendered by Friedrich's famous book. The initial chapters on the scandals covered by and created by "Confidential" magazine read more like Kenneth Anger's HOLLYWOOD BABYLON than Friedrich, but as the study continues it just gets better and better. I didn't want it to end.

RUL

What did the lives of the Hollywood glitterati mean to American culture during the 1950's? We don't find out. Lots of anecdotes, most quite familiar, but little sense of historical context. The text is well written and goes down well, but when the book is over we are left with no greater understanding of the 1950's or the movie industry, wondering, what was the point.

Naktilar

The authors state they did not intend this book to be a comprehensive review of 1950s Hollywood. Yet they seem to have missed some notable figures such as the almost unbelievable fate of early 50s actress Barbara Payton who in less than five years went from starring in major films to being an alcoholic prostitute.
Good coverage of Confidential magazine and also the three gossip queens. Should have been better.

Clodebd

It's been a while since I've read Otto Friedrich's CITY OF NETS, a survey of Hollywood history and culture in the 1940s, but I remember being both entertained and enlightened. The authors of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (not to be confused with the movie of the same title) cite CITY OF NETS as the inspiration for their book, but they acknowledge that it turned into something quite different. Indeed.

There are two or three excellent chapters among the sixteen in the book. When Kashner and MacNair focus on a single film or filmmaker, they can provide some valuable information and insight as to how the film came to be, how it was created, and the signficance of the final product. The chapter on director Douglas Sirk (MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS) and his work with Rock Hudson is pretty good, and the section on THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS - the vitriolic Burt Lancaster/Tony Curtis portrait of a Broadway gossip columnist and his stooge -- is excellent. I also found the chapter on playwright William Inge (COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA, PICNIC, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS) very informative. There are other tidbits to be picked up along the way about the films of the 1950s, but there isn't any real attempt to assess the American film industry of that decade or the changes in the business and in U.S. society that were destroying the "old Hollywood."

Instead, we get, mostly, a series of gossipy sketches of various movie personalities. It's fitting that the book begins with a chapter on the scandal-mongering "Confidential" Magazine, which sold millions of monthly copies in the 1950s with articles about the movie stars who were gay or lesbian, smoked dope, were having extramarital affairs, flirted with leftist politics, or otherwise violated the avowed mores of Middle American society of that era. Unfortunately, Kashner and MacNair spend most of their time and space delving in to the personal lives and foibles of James Dean, Richard Burton, Lana Turner, Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak, among several others. There's not much effort to place these people into the context of a changing Hollywood of the `50s. Fittingly, one of the book's last chapters deals with Louella Parson, Hedda Hopper, and Sheilah Graham, three divas who defined the Hollywood gossip columnist during the `30s and `40s. Perhaps tracing the transition of Hollywood celebrity reporting from the Hedda/Louella/Sheilah triumvirate to the sleazier methods of "Confidential" would have given the book a more logical framework. As is, the authors jump all over the place in terms of subject and chronology, often lumping together disparate individuals as "Hollywood juvenile delinquents." "immigrants," and other rather simplistic linkages.

Despite the rather shallow observations and poor organization, most old movie fans will likely enjoy THE BAD AND BEAUTIFUL precisely because of its gossipy, dish-the-dirt perspective. Those seeking a more thorough assessment of the American film industry in `50s will need to look elsewhere. The decade surveys edited by Murray Pomerance and written by Peter Lev are good starting points.

By the way, there's only a single brief reference to Vincent Minelli's 1952 film, "The Bad and the Beautiful," an interesting "Hollywood on Hollywood" movie that starred Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner. Here, it's just a catchy title.

6snake6

I can pick up a behind-the-scenes, Hollywood tell-all with interest; then, after a few chapters, end up feeling let down by all the sadness and waste that's behind these chronicles. That definitely happens here, but I don't blame these authors for my experience - it's a consequence of reading this type of book.

How "Confidential" magazine came into being, and how its operation contributed to the destruction of the life of Howard Rushmore, its editor-in-chief, is probably the best chapter of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL.

No other "scandal" covered in this book -the making of Peyton Place; the Johnny Stompanato shooting; the brief affair of Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak; the lives of gossip legends Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons and Sheilah Graham, to name a few topics covered- is fresh to a Hollywood history buff. And, unfortunately, there's nothing especially stimulating in the (re)telling of all this old tragedy. The blighted lives of these actors and other Hollywood participants, and the relentlessly downbeat endings to most of these stories, actually make this book depressing to read.

After reading THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, I don't think I've learned anything new about Hollywood, its operations and machinations; or its beautiful citizens in the Fifties - except perhaps, learning anew that it was a cutthroat, backstabbing place to work and live; no place for anyone with insecurities. Unfortunately gossip mills thrived then and continue to thrive today on the failings of human nature, and there's always a public ready to listen - self included, or else why would I have picked up this book?

Malanim

As some reviewers here have pointed out, this book is long on anecdotes but I'm giving it a 4 star rating because not everybody has heard every anecdote--there were a number I hadn't heard--and they're interesting and worthwhile recording while those people were/are still around. Perhaps some deeper historical context would have been useful here, but over all I enjoyed reading it and got out of it what I was hoping to get: a feel for the contradictions and idiosyncrasies of a fading studio system against the onslaught of new technology (ie television) and changing social mores. Recommended.

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